STANDARD: 7 Collaboration Artifact: 3

ARTIFACT NAME: Collaboration with Families

RATIONALE:

One of the final pieces of my portfolio is an essay written about collaborating with

families. In order to gain perspective on collaborating with parents I observed an IEP

meeting. As I listened to the instructors and the parents share their concerns and ask

questions I noticed the body language and facial expressions of both parties. The parents

seemed more open and ready to discuss their childs progress despite knowing about a

few setbacks the student had faced throughout the year. One of the instructors started the

meeting fairly confidently but eventually sunk deep into her chair and skipped over some

of the concerns she had highlighted prior to the start of the meeting. I watched as she

became uncomfortable delivering some of the upsetting news and I witnessed the parents

look of shock and amazement.

As a future special education instructor I believe that it is crucial to

collaborate with families and to keep an open line of communication. Had the instructors

been updating the parents of their childs behavior as it occurred there would have been

fewer concerns about the behavior. I chose to include this artifact within the standard

because it is a prime example of what kind of collaboration can be seen in classrooms

today. The majority of educators understand how important it is to speak with parents and

to give them accurate information on how their child is performing in the class. Special

educators must take it a step further and update parents regularly to ensure that they are

aware of what their child is doing in the class.